1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer and a print system, and particularly relates to a printer capable of restricting the place where print data can be printed and a print system including such a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days, as a business model using a printer, a model, in which a printer manufacturer lends a printer to a user without charge and the user pays the printer manufacturer only usage fees proportional to the number of sheets the user printed with this printer, is attracting considerable attention. In such a business model, in addition to a charge proportional to the number of printed sheets, a charge proportional to the period of use, a charge proportional to the amount of ink used, and the like are conceivable.
There is a demand that when print data is transmitted from a print client such as a computer to a printer, the security of the print data be ensured by restricting the position of a printer capable of printing this print data. In response to such a demand, there is disclosed a technique for not only encrypting print data and transmitting it from a computer to a printer, but also restricting the position of a printer capable of decrypting this encrypted print data in Japanese Patent application Laid-open No. Hei 11-331144 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1).
In a print system in this Patent Document 1, an encryption server manages an encryption key and a decryption key. When a computer which transmits data acquires the encryption key from the encryption server, the computer designates a position to which the decryption key may be transmitted and simultaneously encrypts the print data with the encryption key and transmits this encrypted print data to the printer. The printer which has received the encrypted print data transmits the position of the printer to the encryption server. The encryption server transmits the decryption key to the printer only when the position of the printer matches the position designated by the computer.
In the aforementioned business model in which the printer is lent without charge, if the user sells the printer borrowed from the printer manufacturer without permission or lends the printer to another person, the printer manufacturer cannot charge for the use of the printer. Therefore, the printer manufacturer wants to limit the place where the lent printer can be used, that is, the place where a proper print operation can be executed to a place of the user to whom the printer is lent.
In the print system in Patent Document 1, when the encrypted data is transmitted, only the position of the printer capable of decrypting the data can be designated, and therefore even in the case of a printer moved without permission, a print operation can be executed if the position of the printer is correctly designated.